Like Thunder Under Earth
by theletterdee
Summary: second version of the anon tumblr prompt that asked for "Matthew taking care of Alice", decidedly less fluffy and well... it's smut in the morgue and this is all rahleeyah's fault. Part 3 of the NFWMB AU


**Anon asked for "Matthew taking care of Alice" and I have a fluffier version up, but Leah put a bug in my ear about it and then her and Ariel encouraged me to do this, SO, have um... well, smut set circa season 3 after 3.06, before 3.08, in the morgue. Title comes from "NFWMB" by Hozier**

* * *

Alice moaned into Matthew's kiss as he pressed her up against the counter. They shouldn't be doing this here, in her place of work where anyone could walk in, but she didn't care. Even after the Orton case debacle had cleared, most of the hospital staff still ostracized her - on any given day only Lucien disturbed the quiet of her morgue.

She liked it that way.

Matthew's hands roamed over her sides and back under the white coat and she melted into him. He wasn't the first colleague she'd slept with or dated since becoming a pathologist, but with him it felt different. He still respected her outside of their arrangement, still treated her professionally, and he took the time to learn little things about her. Sex had been pleasurable before, but Matthew's insistence on _her_ needs took it to a whole new level.

It had been slightly awkward the first few times, learning about each other - their tumble into bed taking both of them by surprise when he'd popped around her flat to apologize months ago after the Wooten case, but Alice found Matthew a surprisingly gentle and attentive lover. Alice was used to a rut and done, her own climax usually an afterthought to her lovers, but with Matthew he almost always put her first. It was new and unexpected and Alice found herself looking forward to seeing him again and again.

There was pleasure in time spent with Matthew outside of her bed too (or his, she wasn't picky). She picked up on little things about him: their shared interests in puzzles, his excitement at quiz shows and mystery novels, his snuffling snores as he slept, the way he'd play with her hair when they sat on the couch together or in bed, the way he took his tea, the way he whistled in the shower, the way he brought her breakfast in bed, and the way he loved to tend to the small garden out back of his house on lazy Sunday mornings. He was an enigma wrapped in the facade of a grumpy man and Alice liked that she was one of the few allowed to see behind it.

Matthew's hands sliding over her breasts reeled her back in to the present and Alice nipped at his lower lip.

He groaned, "Sweetheart…"

(She'd never been someone's sweetheart, another unexpected thing with Matthew and it warmed her to her toes.)

"Yes, Inspector?" she teased.

He tightened his grip on her waist and kissed her deeply. He'd come down here to the morgue, irritated at Munro for some reason or another (she couldn't blame him, that man drove her up a wall) and sought her out for comfort - Alice was sure this wasn't _exactly_ what he had in mind, but judging by the hardness pressing against her hip, Matthew wasn't going to complain. His kisses alternated between messy, gentle, and ones that made her knees go weak. Alice mused that Matthew probably enjoyed keeping her on her toes, and keep her on her toes he did. She clutched at his back as he buried his hands in her hair - his mouth hot against hers, contrasting with the cold counter behind her.

Matthew grunted when she pulled him closer by his hips, his fingers tightening in her hair as she nipped his lower lip. He drew back and Alice chased after him - letting out a frustrated sigh when he pulled back even further.

"Hold on a moment, sweetheart," he chuckled. "I want to make sure we won't be bothered."

"No one comes down here."

Matthew pulled her up for a bruising kiss, his tongue swiping across her lower lip, "If you let me go lock the doors, someone will be coming down here."

Alice swatted at his arm at the _godawful_ play on words and Matthew laughed. That was another thing that was new with Matthew: they had fun. She couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed so much when sleeping with someone, but he always knew how to get her to smile, laugh, and giggle at the oddest moments.

" _Go_ , you silly man," she pressed a kiss to his cheek as he drew away to lock the mortuary doors. Leaning back against the counter, Alice watched him cross the morgue with an appreciative eye. Matthew wasn't handsome by most standards; he was too quick to frown, his sandy brown hair had long gone gray by the time she met him, and he facial features were sharper - _odder_ \- than most men, but that had been what drew Alice to him in the first place. He wasn't _considered_ handsome to others, but he was handsome to her, this grumpy man of hers.

(And he was hers, just as she was his, but neither wanted to voice it, neither wanted to cross that line from lovers to _more_ just yet)

(She wondered if they ever would)

In the dimmed light of the morgue, Matthew's eyes were dark as he walked back to her - Alice shivered at the intensity in his gaze - and pulled her into his arms once again to kiss her.

Matthew loved to kiss her, Alice noted after months of sharing his bed. He loved to spend time just kissing her - short kisses, sweet kisses, kisses that made her stop thinking, kisses that burned, kisses all up and down her body; Alice had never felt so _worshipped_ in her entire life - at first it unnerved her, the intensity that Matthew paid her attention, but by now Alice knew how to return the favor.

Her hands trailed from his shoulders down his chest - tripping over his ribbons and the buttons of his wool uniform jacket - as he left a path of kisses along her jaw and neck. She snuck her hands under the jacket, fingers tracing the curve of his bum through his trousers, and sliding along his belt as Matthew kissed her again and again.

His hands pulled hers away from his belt buckle, smiling when she frowned.

"Let me take care of you," Matthew whispered against her lips.

Alice nodded and he kissed her, his tongue stroking hers - sending shivers up and down her spine as she carded her hands through his hair. She squeaked in alarm when he suddenly picked her up by her waist and hoisted her up onto the counter - he grinned, but said nothing. Her shoes clattered to the floor as Matthew stood in between her legs and kissed his way down her throat.

Everything felt too much - her skin was too hot, the counter too cold, her clothes too stuffy - as Matthew nipped and sucked at the tendons of her neck. Shrugging out of her white coat, Alice nearly clawed at Matthew's uniform jacket. He drew back and pinned her wrists above her head against the cabinets with a kiss.

"Matthew," she panted against his lips.

"This is about you, Alice."

" _Matthew_ ," Alice frowned. "If this is really about me, then I want the jacket _off._ "

He laughed against her mouth and kissed her again, "Patience."

Pressing one last kiss to her pout, Matthew let go of her wrists and quickly unbuttoned his jacket - flinging it over the empty autopsy table behind them as he rolled up his sleeves and pulled her to him.

Alice grinned and tugged him up for a kiss by his tie, sighing contently into it when his hands trailed up and down her back and sides. Tangling her fingers in his hair, Alice let her head fall back against the cabinets as Matthew burned a trail of kisses down her throat - unbuttoning her blouse to reach more of her skin. He nipped and sucked wherever he felt like it - spurred on by her gasps and moans as he pulled her blouse from her skirt.

"No slip today," he murmured against her heated skin along the edge of her wine colored bra. "And a bold color choice? Dr. Alice Harvey, you wicked woman."

Heat coiled in her belly at his statement and Alice pulled Matthew up for another kiss - moaning when he nibbled on her lower lip.

"I care more about what I wear these days," her nails scratched his scalp and he nipped at her lip again.

"I like seeing you in pretty things," Matthew whispered - stealing another kiss as Alice flushed bright pink. "You look beautiful."

"I'm half dressed on top of a counter in the morgue, my hair's a mess and I'm sure my makeup is gone too, Matthew."

"Exactly," he kissed her again. "You look beautiful."

Alice traced the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes and the lines around his mouth - tugged up into a soft smile, his eyes shining with an emotion that she wasn't quite ready to name just yet. She kissed him softly, lazily, as he trailed his hands up and down her back.

"Careful, dear Inspector," she whispered against his mouth, "flattery will get you everywhere."

He chuckled lightly, his hands slipping under her skirt and slowly pushing it up to her hips; his touch burned as he chased the soft skin of her thighs above the lacy edge of her stockings. Alice wrapped a leg around his waist and pulled Matthew closer as he kissed and nipped down her sternum - leaving glistening marks behind. His fingers teased the skin of her inner thighs, the edge of her knickers, and Matthew smirked against her chest when she trembled in his arms.

"Matthew, please." Alice moaned at his touch through her underwear, knowing he felt just how damp it was already, and he kissed his way back up her neck to her mouth.

"Easy, sweetheart."

She kissed him hungrily, desperately, as she pressed her hips against his hands. " _Please_."

Matthew grinned against her lips and hooked his hands in her knickers and pulled them down her legs at an agonizing pace. She lifted her hips, desperate for his touch, but he just kissed her softly and held her still.

"Patience."

" _Matthew_."

He kissed along her jaw, nipping at the sensitive skin beneath her ear and soothing it with his tongue. "Wait a moment."

And then his touch disappeared, leaving Alice panting as she leaned against the cabinets - her blouse unbuttoned, her skirt rucked up around her hips, and Alice reeling from Matthew's sudden disappearance. Metal dragged along the vinyl flooring, grating against the hushed atmosphere of the morgue and Matthew put the stool in between her legs. He sat with a crooked smile and Alice couldn't stop the giggles the bubbled up from her chest.

She leaned forward and kissed him, "You are a silly man."

His hands combed through her tousled curls as he kissed her back, "That I am." He trailed his hands down her body until they settled on her knees - tracing idle designs on her skin. "I would like to taste you, sweetheart. May I?"

She pulled him up for a kiss, her hands raking through his hair.

"Yes," Alice whispered, nipping at his bottom lip. "God, yes."

Matthew kissed her - messy, bruising, his tongue soothing where his teeth scored her lips and Alice moaned. He burnt a path down the column of her throat - leaving love bites where he wanted and Alice knew she'd have a hard time hiding some of them, but she didn't care. It was evidence of their time together, evidence that she _belonged_ to someone, evidence that someone cared about her - loved her to the point of a physical mark. He kissed his way down her sternum, his hands not far behind and he abruptly jumped from her navel to the inside of her knee - laughing at Alice's frustrated sigh.

"I'm getting there, sweetheart, let me enjoy this."

She huffed even as he kissed his way up her inner thigh and she squirmed under his lips and hands. Alice tangled her hands in Matthew's hair as he peppered her legs and hips with kisses - pulling slightly when he purposefully avoided her sex.

"Matthew."

She looked down to see his boyish grin - it widened when he pulled her sharply towards him and she drew in a sudden breath. Easing her legs over his shoulders, Matthew teased her folds with his fingers and Alice bit back a whimper. The glass containers rattled behind her when she let her head fall back against the cabinets as Matthew slipped a finger inside her - his mouth sucking and biting the skin of her inner thigh to the point of pain, soothing with his tongue when she finally gasped.

"Oh, God," Alice breathed, her hands tightening in Matthew's hair. She heard a low chuckle from the man in between her legs before he finally, _finally_ gave her what she wanted. At the first swipe of his tongue over her sex, Alice cried out. He was very good at this, she mused, rolling her hips against his mouth and fingers as his tongue circled her clit.

 _Very_ good at this.

She arched into him, chasing the way he crooked his fingers inside her and rubbed against the small spot while he lapped at her folds. The heel of her foot dug into his back when Matthew gently sucked her clit - she could feel him grin at the stream of barely intelligible swears that fell from her mouth. Only Matthew could reduce her to this - crude and wanton, flushed and speechless, beautiful and sexy.

Alice tugged on his hair, grinding her hips against his mouth - a fission of arousal ricocheting up her spine when his moan vibrated against the sensitive bundle of nerves. Heat flooded her body, filling her senses as she lightly scratched Matthew's shoulders and neck under his collar - catching the sensitive skin behind his ear; he retaliated by doubling his efforts between her legs - leaving her trembling, panting, tension building in her thighs. Pleasure fizzed throughout her veins, all of her synapses firing at once; everything revolved around Matthew - his hand kneading the muscles of her thigh, his fingers (slick with her fluids) pumping in and out of her as he played her like a fine tuned instrument, his mouth and tongue working against her clit as she lost herself in the high of an orgasm.

"M-Matthew," she gasped. "Oh, God, Matth-"

"Let go, sweetheart," he growled.

Alice let out a half-strangled scream - her fingers tightening painfully in Matthew's hair as her thighs tightened around his head, her heels digging into his back and she arched against his mouth. She muffled her moan with one of her own hands as she shuddered around his hand and tongue - her limbs tingling and oddly heavy as Matthew gently coaxed her down from her orgasm. Panting as he eased his fingers from her sex, Alice grabbed Matthew's tie and pulled him up for a deep, messy kiss - her tongue chasing the taste of herself in his mouth - and Matthew groaned.

The stool clanged on the floor, but neither paid it any mind. Alice shivered when Matthew's hardness pressed against the heat of her sex through his trousers.

She'd never look at the morgue the same way again.

Matthew gently broke the kiss, sweeping his hands up and down her back as they caught their breath.

"Good?" He asked, laughing when she rolled her eyes at him.

"More than good," she pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "Bloody hell, Matthew."

He laughed again and kissed her. Alice hummed into it, her thumbs caressing his jaw as Matthew brushed his lips against hers - lightly, softly, sweetly - before pulling back and pressing a kiss to her forehead. She rested her forehead against his shoulder as she calmed her breathing and heart rate down, humming contently when his hands continued to smooth up and down her back. Alice wondered if he was expecting more, if they could get away with that when both were already on borrowed time - the phone could ring at any time, calling him away to the station, or out to a scene. Leaning back, she kissed him, their tongues meeting lazily - no heat, but a promise of _later_ echoing in the space between them.

Silently, reverently, Matthew helped Alice slip her knickers back on, pull her skirt back down to an acceptable length, and snuck in a quick kiss to her sternum as he buttoned up her blouse. Kissing her forehead again, he gently lifted her down off the counter - smiling when she tucked her head under his chin with a happy hum and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"How am I supposed to work here now?" she asked him finally.

Matthew threw his head back and laughed. "I don't know, sweetheart, I don't know… but any time you'd like me to come help you figure it out, let me know."

Alice pinched his bum at his cheeky reply and drew back out of his arms. Tucking her blouse back into her skirt, she caught Matthew watching her with a fond look as he leaned against the autopsy table.

"What?"

"You look beautiful."

"I look thoroughly fucked."

The boyish grin returned - Matthew alway did like it when she cursed in front of him, pleased that he could get a ' _smart lady doctor'_ to use such crude language - and Alice felt her cheeks grow hot. She pulled her heels back on as Matthew rolled his sleeves back down and donned his jacket - both of them slipping back into their professional roles, even if her lipstick had been thoroughly kissed off and his hair stuck up in weird angles.

"Would you like to have dinner, Dr. Harvey?"

"Why, Inspector, is this you asking me out on a date?"

"I'm trying to," he teased, tucking a stray curl behind her ear as she stepped forward.

Alice reached up and smoothed Matthew's hair down into a more appropriate style. She leaned in and kissed him softly, "I'd love to."

Matthew grinned again and offered his arm. Alice took it, hanging up her white coat (another thing she'd not look at the same after this) on their way out, and leaned her head against Matthew's shoulder.

Alice liked it when Matthew took care of her, and maybe one day she'd get to return the favor.


End file.
